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Entries for 'Gray Loon'
Ghost Buster
By Mike Handley
After drooling over a summertime image of an enormous buck in 2019, Bruce Laudick quadrupled the number of trail cameras throughout his 5 acres in Grant County, Kentucky. He collected only a few more nighttime photos of the deer, which was discouraging, but he got the deer, which certainly put the spring back in his step. Bruce had nicknamed the 21... READ MORE
Mid-September on Public Land
By Mike Handley
David Ramey of Cartersville, Georgia, doesn’t mind breaking a sweat while deer hunting, as long as he’s in Kansas with a bug machine. The roughly $555 nonresident price tag — for the license and a deer tag — isn’t cheap, but his hunting spot was. Anybody can hunt it. David and his brother, H.J., found the public land t... READ MORE
Staking Out the Bedroom
By Mike Handley
In the whitetail world, the shortest distance between points A and B isn’t necessarily a straight line. Even during the summer and early hunting season, when deer are most predictable, they often zig and zag so much that it’s almost impossible to predict comings and goings, especially when the same animals are walking in front of trail ... READ MORE
How to Christen a New Bow
By Mike Handley
When C.J. Boynes dug deep and shelled out for his first bow last July, he probably didn't realize the taxidermy bill his new toy would later generate. Not that it matters. The Louisiana man was more than happy to double-down on his new passion, which was sparked by his young son's desire to give hunting a try. Both father and son shot their first b... READ MORE
Chewiness is a Small Price to Pay
By Mike Handley
Phillip Pless has always considered himself a meat hunter. Last season, however, he opted for a little more gristle in his venison. The mindset of the 42-year-old, medically-retired Navy man from Newfane, New York, changed after he retrieved a summertime trail camera image of an unbelievably huge buck in velvet. He was so bewitched by the animal th... READ MORE
Son of Buckzilla
By Mike Handley
Wildlife officials at the Fort Campbell military base believe a deer shot in 2019 is the offspring of a giant whitetail hit by a truck there a couple of years earlier. The former, which was still in velvet when it met its demise, scored 254 inches and was Buckmasters’ Deer of the Year for 2018. The latter, which tallies 224, is the new Tennes... READ MORE
Halloween Treat
By Mike Handley
Halloween has long been one of the Buckeye State’s biggest yielders of bodacious whitetails, but that’s not why Levi Lease chose to go hunting last Oct. 31. The hunter from St. Louis, Ohio, had planned to spend much of his day sitting inside a dirt track racecar rather than a deer stand. He changed his mind only because he and his crew ... READ MORE
Two Seasons and 45 Inches Later
By Mike Handley
Doug Hampton passed up a 170-inch whitetail in 2018, only because his outfitter promised he could return to Iowa and hunt it after it had “grown up.” Doug’s hosts speculated the deer was only 3 1/2 years old when they and he first became acquainted with it. In his eyes, it was already a world-class trophy. In theirs, it was merely... READ MORE
Public Land Bruiser
By Mike Handley
Landin Hall doesn’t have to hunt public land. Neither does he have to cross state lines to find bucks that’ll blow his taxidermy budget. In 2020, however, the 25-year-old from Kendallville, Indiana, did both, all because he was tired of looking at the same old seemingly deer-less property. He’d collected plenty of trail camera pho... READ MORE
Turdy-pointer, Trust Me.
By Mike Handley
I wish I could’ve seen Philip Carter’s jaw drop when he walked up to the deer he shot on Nov. 14. The 41-year-old from Bentonville, Arkansas, knew he was shooting at a great buck that rainy opening day of Missouri’s rifle season, but there’s no way he could’ve seen the 19 sticker points mostly behind its brow tines. Fr... READ MORE
Buck Fever or Test Anxiety?
By Mike Handley
Josh Wright, a student at the University of Pikeville, aced his finals in deer hunting last fall in a test that lasted a mere six minutes. The Nov. 29 outcome saved what had been a disastrous season to that point, beginning when he clean-missed the deer of his dreams, likely the result of either buck fever or test anxiety. His bullet flew under, ov... READ MORE
‘Ten-pointer’ is SO Much More!
By Mike Handley
When Wil Branem spotted a second buck approaching his pinch-point stand on Nov. 7, 2020, he incorrectly deduced it was a 10-pointer. The underestimation didn’t really matter, though, because the deer was way bigger than the 4x4 he’d been hoping would step clear of a tree. That the lesser deer’s vitals were covered is the only reas... READ MORE
2020 Whitetail Shuffles Michigan Records
By Mike Handley
The state of Michigan gained a new No. 3 (irregular) whitetail among rifle harvests last season. The name beside the impressive 16-pointer is Tom Fogarty Jr. of Benton Harbor, who had neither seen nor heard about the deer until it emerged from a creek bottom on the opposite side of the wooded pasture he was hunting on Nov. 18. Tom was sitting insid... READ MORE
‘Dumbest Buck in America’
By Mike Handley
Clay Kiteley could do no wrong on Nov. 3, 2020, though he might now think twice before carrying a naked crossbow to and from his deer stands. It’s one thing, a good thing, to climb and descend ladders with an uncocked and unloaded bow. When feet are on the ground, however, it’s usually prudent to be prepared. After an uneventful morning... READ MORE
‘Twin Towers’ Ties Oklahoma Record
By Mike Handley
Blind rattling isn’t particularly effective once the whitetail rut is underway, but tickling the ivories can sometimes tear a lovelorn buck’s gaze away from its heart’s desire. Better yet, the distraction can make it shift into kick-butt mode and charge into bow range. Chano Bargas knows this, which is why he carried a small set o... READ MORE